Story behind blowing out candles There are a number of ancient theories that explain the origin of blowing candles on birthdays. The first one is the Greek theory, which says that the tradition of blowing candles on birthdays is connected to the ancient practice of lighting the candles in order to worship the birth of the Goddess Artemis. According to another theory, the tradition of blowing candles originated in Switzerland in the year 1881. The Swiss middles class followed a number of superstitions back in the days and the number of candles on the cake corresponded to the age of the person. The birthday boy/girl was then asked to blow out each candle one by one. Another theory comes from the Pagans who said that the birthday candles had a symbolic power. It was believed in earlier times that bad spirits visit people on their birthdays and in order to protect the birthday person, candles were lit and he/she was surrounded by the friends and family and therefore, was shielded from the evil spirits.
